Three vacant city council seats draw crowded field
A few well-known names are among the crowded field of candidates who submitted signatures to run for the three Milwaukee Common Council seats that currently sit vacant.
Among the candidates voters are likely to know are former state Rep. David Bowen, Andrea Pratt, the daughter of former Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt, and retired Milwaukee Assistant Police Chief Raymond Banks.
The three vacancies on the 15-member council will be filled in the April 4 election, finally bringing the council to full strength after one-third of its members departed over the course of 2021.
The absences have left residents of those districts without council representation on issues large and small and put a greater strain on the remaining members.
The seats’ former occupants largely left for other offices or jobs. Their successors will serve the remainder of their terms, which end in April 2024.
Two of the five seats that came open were already filled in the November election, when Alds. Mark Chambers Jr. and Jonathan Brostoff were elected to represent Aldermanic Districts 2 and 3, respectively.
On the April ballot — with likely Feb. 21 primaries — are Aldermanic Districts 1, 5 and 9 on the city’s northwest side.
Former District 1 Ald. Ashanti Hamilton was appointed to lead the city’s Office of Violence Prevention by Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who left the District 2 seat after he was elected mayor in April. Johnson also appointed Ald. Nik Kovac to serve as his budget director, leading to a vacancy in District 3 on the city’s east side.
District 5 Ald. Nikiya Dodd stepped down at the end of November citing “serious family and medical issues.” She now works as the development director at the Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy, a public charter high school in Milwaukee.
District 9 Ald. Chantia Lewis was removed from office in July after she was convicted in Milwaukee County court on two felonies related to her conduct in office.
There is no shortage of competition for the three open seats.
District 1 candidates
In District 1, Bowen and Pratt are among the candidates who submitted signatures to run for the seat.
Bowen did not seek reelection to the state Assembly last year after his mother’s death. He was first elected to the Assembly in 2014 after serving on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.
In a statement announcing his candidacy, Bowen called this moment “possibly the most challenging in Milwaukee’s history.” He noted public safety concerns, disparities in economic opportunities and quality housing, and the city’s fiscal crisis.
“I am eager to work with fellow alders on an agenda to mitigate these threats, foster untapped opportunity and directly address the concerns of the 1st District,” he wrote, noting his government experience.
Pratt in a statement said she was a lifelong District 1 resident who understands the needs of the district and comes from a tradition of public service.
“I believe, wholeheartedly, in taking care of home first and the 1st District is my home,” she said.
Pratt said she was inspired to run by her father, who was acting Milwaukee mayor and the first African American to serve in the position.
She also highlighted her own experience working in Milwaukee Public Schools and at the City of Milwaukee, in Hamilton’s office when he was on the council and since March as an equal rights specialist for the Department of Administration Office of Equity and Inclusion.
Others who submitted nomination papers by the 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday are Frederick Andre Coleman, Zandra Bailey, Marshall Martin, Vincent G. Toney and Rodney Campbell.
District 5 candidates
Banks is the biggest name in the District 5 race, in which seven candidates submitted signatures by the deadline.
Banks on his campaign website highlighted his nearly three-decade tenure at the city, where he retired as an assistant police chief in 2020.
Annette Jackson, P. Thomas Thadison III, Lamont Westmoreland, Jeff Spence, Joseph E. Fisch and Bruce Winter also submitted signatures by the deadline.
District 9 candidates
Russell Antonio Goodwin Sr., formerly a member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, was among the eight running for District 9. Other candidates are Donna Ross, Amber Danyus, Odell Ball, Larresa Taylor, Walt Love, Jasmine Tyler and Cherie Ray. Ball is the husband of Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball.
Council members have a base pay of $73,222 per year.